Abyss
AbyssBladeOfHope Bottomless Pit I stand at the bottom of the darkness and wait. Out of the shadows, my companion whispers, "Wait until they're right above us." She shifts on her paws, her fur brushing against the claustrophobic rock walls around us and causing them to sing. "Wait... until they're right above us." "Shut up," I hiss. I don't dare look away from the sky - or where it's supposed to be, at least. For us, the sky is a little pinprick of light far, far above our heads, in a place where we can't reach. The sky is not something that concerns us... except when they come down from it to confront us. At times like this, the sky is all we care about. "Just a little longer," I breathe, mostly to myself. If Letta hears me, she doesn't let on. Good. She's learning. Finally, ages later, something blocks out the sky. "Go, go, go!" I spring from our hiding place with Letta following close behind. Together we rush towards the far wall, making quite a disturbance as we brush against the walls. We start wailing, our high-pitched voices echoing eerily throughout the entire cavernous space. The effect makes us sound like wraiths. The intruders are still far above us, falling freely down into our empty home. "Surrender!" They speak in a collective roar, addressing us in their terrible voices. "Surrender to the sky - to your true home!" "Never!" We reach the other wall just as they cross the dividing point, and I hastily pull Letta into the tiny hidden space with me. My hurried actions create a raucous din, and even I have to wince as the sharp noise pierces into my ears. They finally touch bottom, and every one of their heads swivels in unison, searching for us in the darkness. However, as dwellers of the sky, they can't find us in this dim light. They can't see us, but we can see them in perfect clarity. That's the only reason we've survived this long. One voice eventually rises above the rest, and it's a voice I know all too well. "Come out," he commands. "Asoku Ruen! Isofar Letta! Jusun Kisveth commands you to show yourselves and face your judgment!" I throw myself against the wall, counting on the noise to block any chance of them being able to pinpoint my voice. "I will never go back!" I howl. "I will never go back to that place! I will stay here, inside my own personal hell, until I die!" My words carry a kind of horrible, final weight to them, and just as I anticipated, the Jusun warrior pauses. In the silence that follows, I flick the tip of my tail ever so slightly. Letta exhales right on cue, and the most beautiful music whispers off the walls. "This is beautiful to me," I say quietly, speaking loud enough that they can hear me, but not loud enough that the music will fade away. "The sound of my own voice may drive me crazy, and I may despise ever having met another cat, but there is beauty in this place. Don't you dare try to take it away from me!" I yell one final time, breaking off any echoes my voice may have produced, and wait for it to die. The Jusun are silent, and then their commander nods once, definitively. "Very well," he growls. "I will leave you alone for now. But we will still return to you, and we will return the sky into your world." He barks the command to jump, and as a unit they start sprinting up the steep, steep walls. It's an ability I would kill to have. When I'm sure they've crossed the dividing point again, I let go of the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. "It's okay," Letta tells me, her voice barely more than a breath as she leans gently against my shoulder. "Ruen, it's okay." "No," I reply just as softly, a single tear running down my cheek. "No, it's not." We fall into silence once more. In the Sky “Letta,” I called gruffly. “Raiku wants us to round up a group and go hunting.” I shuffled my paws as my friend turned to smile at me, her golden fur bright in the sunlight. “And… um… that’s it, I guess. You can bring whoever you want.” I turned and darted away before she could say anything else, shaking my head at myself. Stupid. The relationship between Asoku and Isofar had always been good. No member of either clan had ever felt the need to condemn any member of the opposing clan to the Abyss. We were happy; life was good. Living up near the clouds was never a bad thing; we all loved it, more or less. I was the only flaw in that exceptional world. Where clan alliances thrived, I strove to push others away. Where families warred against each other, I had declared war against the world. And where everything hinged on your social standing within your clan… well, let’s just say I’d hit rock bottom on that list a long time ago. Letta was the only exception in my flawed world. “Ruen, wait.” I stopped. Even though I had been running away from her, Letta had still chased after me. “Are you really okay with this? I mean, if you don’t want to go, I can just talk to Raiku about letting you stay…” She trailed off, coming up to stand by my side. “It’s fine,” I muttered, not even turning my head to meet her gaze. “You can’t shelter me forever. Rosari and Artemi would notice. Let’s just go.” I started walking again, not bothering to wait for Letta. True to form, she still managed to keep pace with me, even though I had a head start and my legs are longer than hers. “Are you sure?” she persisted. “Because I could-” “Letta,” I growled. “It’s fine.” She drooped a little, but she didn’t argue. Keeping her voice upbeat, she even changed the subject for me. “Did you hear?” she asked eagerly. “Rosari and Artemi are expecting kits together. In about a half-moon, we’ll have a bunch of little half-clan kits to take care of! Won’t that be great?” She purred. “I mean, I know you don’t really like kits, Ruen, but even you have to admit that this is exciting.” She looked at me earnestly, waiting patiently for me to reply. “Yeah,” I conceded, not wanting to make her upset by keeping silent. “That’s great.” “See, Artemi? I told you Ruen would care!” Letta surprised me by yelling over her shoulder. The leader of the Isofar clan, the great she-cat Artemi, trotted out from behind a tree and towards us, her vivid blue eyes shining against her bright ginger fur. I spluttered indignantly. Artemi just brushed up against Letta’s side in a friendly gesture, dipping her head to me instead of making contact, which I appreciated. I dipped my head back respectfully, glancing questioningly at Letta all the while. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, sounding sincere. “I just wanted to prove that you’re not as asocial as every cat says. I mean… I didn’t want you to be condemned.” I stared at her incredulously. Was… was Artemi thinking about condemning me…? Impossible… “Ruen.” Artemi took a step closer to me, and then she paused. “Ruen, is it okay if I call you Rue…?” I nodded hesitantly. No way was I about to defy a cat with her status. “So, Rue.” Another pause. Just get on with it already. “Rue, I’ve heard from other cats that… that you’re not very good at interacting with others. Is this true?” Immediately, instinctively, I threw up all of my mental walls. Defensiveness abounds in a cat who feels cornered. “I get on well enough with Letta,” I replied slowly, defensively. “Anyone else?” Artemi sat down, her tail flicking thoughtfully, as though she expected us to be standing there for a while. I gritted my teeth, grinding them together for a good long while with frustration. “No,” I spat. “Satisfied?” I wanted to run, but I couldn’t. I’d have gotten in so much trouble if I’d tried to run from the Isofar leader. Artemi surprised me by responding, “Yes.” She stood again and turned to go. “Letta… just keep an eye on him for me, okay?” And she was gone. I gasped for breath, relieved that Artemi’s suffocating presence. Letta pressed up against my side, trying to reassure me, but all I could do was focus on continuing to breathe. That scared me… that really scared me. “Letta,” I whispered. “Was she really… going to condemn me…?” Letta flinched, but a second later she was back against my side, pressing up against me and steering me to a place where there were no other cats. She squared her shoulders and faced me head-on. “Ruen,” she answered firmly. “No one is going to condemn you. Don’t worry about it, okay?” She bounced a little on her paws, her golden gaze friendly and cheerful and filled with some deeper emotion – anger? I narrowed my own eyes, uncertain whether or not she was telling me the truth. “Right,” I finally replied. “Let’s just go hunting already.” So we rounded up some other cats and headed out. Dusk to Dawn Category:Bladefics